Responding to COVID
“Now is the time for us to build on the lessons of the pandemic, to reconfigure the people, spaces, time and technology to devise more effective and efficient educational environments.”
OECD, The State of School Education: One Year into the COVID Pandemic April 2021 - Report
Wellbeing Activities for Parents and Children During Home Learning
Catholic Education Ballarat is proud to launch ‘Wellbeing Activities for Parents and Students During Home Learning’. Healthy wellbeing promotes a sense of meaning and purpose in life that is supported by the spiritual dimension of Catholic schools. It is especially important to ensure that children and young people’s wellbeing is looked after in times of uncertainty and stress. Supporting wellbeing not only helps children and young people to feel happier and less anxious, it will also help them to have positive interactions with the rest of the family and to learn more effectively.
The activities in this workbook are designed to give students themselves, as well as parents/carers and school staff suggested ways of supporting the students' wellbeing - either at home or as part of classroom activities at school.
Victorian schools, including the schools of the Ballarat Diocese have been subject to a number of periods of remote learning since March 2020, due to COVID-19 lockdown orders. To date, many students have missed over 120 days of face to face learning. Whilst schools have employed extraordinary and unprecedented measures to ensure the continuation of learning, this has been done variably and with yet-to-be measured levels of success. Some school leaders and teachers are anecdotally reporting a significant impact on social and academic outcomes, particularly for learners in the Early Years. It is possible that schools will continue to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic into the future, and therefore a strategic response to the impact of current and future disruptions to learning is required.
National and international research can support educators, schools and systems as they develop strategic responses and adapt to a new global reality.
A research base (available here) has informed the development of this resource.
Key Research Recommendations for Consideration
The table below summarises some of the key recommendations gleaned from national and international research about mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on schools.
Schools may find the information in this table helpful to affirm existing practice, identify areas of practice to strengthen further, or in considering future possibilities.
Schools seeking to engage in greater depth with any of the recommendations are encouraged to contact CEB staff.
For a printable version of this table, please click here.
Melbourne University is offering a free, online course called
‘Supporting Schools in a Time of COVID-19’.
Supporting Schools in a time of COVID-19 is an online professional learning opportunity for primary classroom teachers and education staff, consisting of a series of four modules
The modules have been developed to assist primary school educators to support their students’ mental health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The modules are available online and can be accessed and completed at times that suit the educator. Educators can also access a moderated discussion board to share experiences and build professional connections.
Key Resources
Assessing and Intervening with Impact
CECV guide suggesting approaches for identifying student progress and supporting growth with targeted intervention an strategies.
CEM Guide to Selecting an Intervention
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines
CEB Tutor Learning Program
The Tutor Learning Program is a $250 million initiative that will assist Victorian government and non-
government schools to support student learning following the period of remote and flexible learning.
Helpful Readings
COVID Catch Up - Helping Disadvantaged Students Close the Equity Gap
This report from the Grattan Institute presents the case for a ‘tutoring blitz’ in Australian schools, to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.
OECD Report - One Year into the COVID Pandemic
The OECD – in collaboration with UNESCO, UNICEF and The World Bank – has been monitoring the situation across countries and collecting data on how each system is responding to the crisis.
PIVOT White Paper
The PIVOT survey asked educators a series of questions about their experiences with online teaching during the COVID-19 schools shutdown, and sought their views about the impacts on school children and educational outcomes difference.
Examining the impact of COVID-19 Report Summary
A national survey exploring the impact of COVID-19 on teaching and learning across all educational sectors was undertaken by researchers at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne.